Ludhiana, February 20
The Division No. 7 police has exposed the shocking deeds of two residents from Bihar who had kidnapped three children from that state and had been forcing them to work in different factories here for the past six months.

The two alleged kidnappers, Mohammad Jehar and Raju, were pocketing the wages of the children who were beaten up whenever they refused to toe their line.

The children, Nakil (7), Muksood (7) and Ahmed (10), belonged to poor families. The accused allegedly lured them by promising to show them films and undertake trips to amusement centres in Punjab. They fulfilled the promise for couple of days here, but then forced the children to work as labourers.

Inspector Gurpreet Singh, SHO of the Division No. 7 police station, said the police had information that the some children were being exploited in such a manner. They raided the accused’s rented house in Bank Colony in Jamalpur and arrested Mohammad Jehar, but Raju managed to escape.

The accused have been booked under the Juvenile Justice Act, 2000, and the Bonded Labour Act, besides Section 374 of the IPC.

The rescued children have been sent to a juvenile home here. The police has sent a message to the Bihar police about the recovery of the children.

The children revealed to the police that they lived in poverty-stricken condition. The accused were known to their parents. Six months ago, Mohammad Jehar told them that he would take them to Punjab where they could see films, play video games and visit amusement parks. He told the children that he had taken permission from their parents.

The unassuming children came here. The accused took them around the city for a few days and showed them some movies also. Then, he told them that they would have to work now as their parents have wished to settle them in Punjab.

Whenever any child created trouble, the accused initially used to write fake letters to their parents or read out letters received from them. Later, they started beating them up at the slightest ‘provocation’.

The parents of the victim children had, meanwhile, lodged FIRs in Bihar that the three had been kidnapped.

Mr Gurpreet Singh said the police was making efforts to reunite the victims with their families at the earliest. Raids were being conducted to nab the absconding accused, Raju, who belonged to Zekipur district of Bihar.

Ludhiana, February 20
For all those dreaming of a better career in the greener pastures of Australia, the experiences of Dr Gursharan Singh, national vice-president of the Indian Medical Association and the member of the Punjab Medical Council, should serve as an eye opener.

Dr Gursharan recently returned from Adelaide after refusing an offer from the Australian Government to serve there in the field of rural medicine.

He said although he was never inclined to serve abroad, he wanted to have a firsthand experience of the job being offered by the Australian Government to health professionals from all around the world, particularly India.

He had primarily decided to go for a month so that he could have enough experience there. But he returned within a week as. “It was not possible to stay there for even one day more,” he said.

His departure from Australia has already sparked off a debate in the media and he has been flooded with emails from various newspapers seeking his views as to why he left Australia. Some of the Indian doctors working in the rural health services in Australia have also hailed Dr Gursharan for taking a bold decision of leaving the job.

A leading Australian daily, The Advertiser, reported, “The Indian doctor, who fled a country town after less than a week, claims the salaries paid to rural general practitioners (GPs) in South Australia amounts to exploitation.”

Dr Gursharan Singh said the crushing workload of being on-call round the clock in Wudinna, on the Eyre Peninsula, a rural area, was a ‘violation’ of human rights. Taking the hours he was expected to work into account, Dr Singh said, he would have been paid ‘far less’ than a waiter if he had remained in the state’s health system. “The salary structure there is literally meant exploitation of doctors,” he remarked.

The Advertiser, which has made it an issue, while quoting other rural doctors, said Dr Singh’s comments highlighted growing discontent about conditions endured by rural general practitioners in Australia.

Taking note of the issue, the Australian Medical Association called for more orientation for overseas recruits before they started working in isolated towns. The Rural Doctors Association of Australia has said that the pay structure for country medics needed to be reviewed.

Dr Gursharan Singh said there was a dire need of doctors in the rural sector. He said 10 towns in southern Australia were still without doctors. The recruitment could take up to six months. There were also numerous vacancies for other medical, nursing and allied health staff. He said people who go there with dreams in eyes, end up disappointed as they find themselves faced with a lot of hardships once they land there.

He was to get over 1 lakh Australian dollars a year, including other incentives. But, he said, if money was the only consideration, other jobs, such as that of a waiter, ensured 20 to 30 Australian dollars per hour, making these more rewarding than a doctor’s job.

Dr Gursharan said anybody who was well-placed in India must not think of serving abroad, much less in rural Australia, where it amounts to ‘solitary confinement’. He said several of his Indian colleagues, who were already working there, were appreciative of his decision and they regretted that they did not do the same when they could have.

Ludhiana, February 20
Senior Congress leader and secretary of the All-India Congress Committee Manish Tewari said here today that the Congress was all set to win the Ajnala
Assembly election.

Talking to mediapersons on his return from Kila Raipur, where he had gone to attend ‘Rural Olympics’, he said the people in that area, like elsewhere in Punjab, were happy with the performance of the government under the leadership of Capt Amarinder Singh. He said some of the decisions taken by the state government were certainly helping the party there.

The AICC secretary said the party was united and strong in the state. He said, “Probably it is for the first time that the party is consensually united in Punjab and the performance of the government is being hailed everywhere and the message has gone down well among the masses.” He claimed the party would win from Ajnala by a massive margin.

He criticised the Shiromani Akali Dal for levelling vague allegations against the government. He said these were the indications of an imminent defeat for the Akalis. That is the reason they had started levelling such baseless allegations.

To a question about the likely outcome of Bihar elections, where Mr Tewari has been camping for a long time, he said the Congress would try its level best to ensure the installation of a secular government there.

He admitted that the prospects did not appear very bright for the Bihar strongman, Mr Laloo Prasad Yadav, but, he said, it was too early to rush to any judgement until last phase of elections was over and the ballots were counted.

Ludhiana, February 20
More and more representative bodies of trade and industry are coming forward to extend their support to the “Bharat bandh” tomorrow in protest against the government attempt to thrust value added tax (VAT) from April 2005 in the state. The call for bandh, given by the Akahil Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, has received tremendous response from trade and industry bodies here as the Punjab Pradesh Beopar Mandal has also decided to join the protest.

The vice-president of the Akhil Bhartiya Udyog Vyapar Mandal, Mr Tulsi Das Jaitwani, has given a call to each member of the trading community and the industrial sector to make the country-wide bandh a great success so that the strength and solidarity of those being affected by introduction of VAT forced the government to adopt the path of discussion rather than taking unilateral action.

The Clock Tower Association, in a meeting held here today under the presidentship of Mr Gurinder Sood, condemned the dictatorial move of the government in imposing VAT without taking the trade and industrial bodies in confidence and ignoring the persistent demand of the business community to remove harsh provisions from the proposed VAT system and further to do away with multiple taxation.

The Ludhiana Electroplating Material Dealers Association has resolved to observe complete bandh against the imposition of VAT without making amendments in the legislation as being demanded by trade and industry. This was announced here today by Mr Pawan Sood, general secretary of the association.

Machhiwara, February 20
Cattle owners are facing a problem these days because of poor veterinary health services in this rural belt. There is acute shortage of staff in all seven veterinary hospitals and four dispensaries of this block.

Some hospitals are without veterinarians whereas many dispensaries are without pharmacists. So much so that Class IV employees of the Animal Husbandry Department are being forced to treat animals.

There has been no supply of medicines, excluding vaccination for the foot and mouth disease and haemoragic septicaemia, for the past many years.

Veterinary hospitals of Machhiwara and Panjgrain that are being run by the zila parishad have no stock of medicines. The building of Machhiwara Hospital has cracks. Though Machhiwara Hospital has no shortage of staff, at Punjgrain the pharmacist's post is vacant.

In a hospital at Hambowal, neither a veterinarian nor a pharmacist is available for treating the animals. In the absence of both, a Class IV employee of the hospital has been treating the animals.

Similar is the position at the Chhaurian hospital.

The post of doctor at the newly built hospital at the Focal Point (Burj-Powat) has been lying vacant. Hospitals of Hedon (Dhaha) and Sihala villages are working without pharmacists.

The dispensary at Mand Jharaudi has been awaiting a pharmacist for long.

Though the Department of Animal Husbandry is trying to compensate the absence of doctors by assigning the job to pharmacists, these pharmacists cannot practice as per rules of the Veterinary Council of India. They are only authorised to vaccinate.

The people of this area have urged the government and the district administration to take step for providing better health services to the animals.

Ludhiana, February 20
An 18-member delegation of the Solvent Extractors Association of India, a premier body of vegetable oil industry and trade, will leave for Pakistan tomorrow.
Mr A.R. Sharma, CMD of A.P. Solvex Ltd, Dhuri, and vice-president of the association, will lead the trade delegation.

According to a press note issued by the association here today, the main objective of the visit was to exchange market and technical information with their counterparts in Pakistan and at the same time explore the possibilities of technology transfer and bilateral trade between the two countries. The delegation would visit Karachi, Islamabad and also participate in the regional oilseeds conference of SAARC countries scheduled to be held at Lahore on February 25 and 26, 2005.

Ludhiana, February 20
The Sikh Migrants Welfare Association, calling upon the government to take
immediate steps for the welfare of Sikh migrant families, has rued that as a result of neglect on the part of the authorities, a majority of the migrant families here were leading a pathetic life.

A meeting of the association, presided over by Mr Gurdev Singh Batalvi here today, noted with concern that a large number of migrant families were barely subsisting. The successive governments had failed to help those who had been uprooted during the 1984 riots, members said.

According to Mr Batalvi, the members held certain self-styled leaders of the Sikh migrants, responsible for the plight of the migrants. They alleged that these persons, enjoying political patronage, had amassed moveable and immovable assets whereas the people whom they claimed to represent were not even able to make both ends meet.

The members pointed out that there had been grave irregularities in the allotment of booths, flats, ration depots and other avenues of business for the migrant families.

They asked the government to hold a high-level inquiry into the allegations of showing undue favours to a particular group owing allegiance to the SAD.

Mandi Ahmedgarh, February 20
The national body of the Shiv Sena, Hindustan, has urged the Union Government to review its decision to allow citizens of Pakistan and Kashmir to avail
themselves of the Srinagar-Muzzafarabad bus service on the basis of entry permits. The bus service is to commence from April 7.

Mr Pawan Kumar Gupta, chief of the organisation, apprehended that the decision would put the governments of both countries in an embarrassing position if some extremist outfit misused the service.

“Though relations between the two nations have been improving in the recent past, they have not become so congenial that we should start trusting blindly,” he said.

Appreciating the move of the respective governments in starting various modes of transports to Sikh religious shriner located in Pakistan, Mr Gupta demanded a service to Hindu shrine like Katasraj.

Referring to the interaction with activists of the organisation at a conference held in Malerkotla today, he said he had conveyed to members that the Shiv Sena (Hindustan) was not only a martial organisation but it had social responsibilities to share with other organisations.

“Our activists would coordinate with the representatives of various bodies, including municipal councils and nagar panchayats, so that the grievances of the public might be redressed with mutual understanding,” he said.

He called on the families of some terrorist victims and assured them of help.

Mr Sanjiv Kumar, state president, Mr Inderjit Dhiman, SVP, Mr Bhim Sain, district president and Mr Sanjiv Kumar, president of the local unit, were also present.

Ludhiana, February 20
Eight-year-old Saurabh Sharma, has magic in his fingers which belies his small and fragile built.
His small, tiny fingers cover the computer's keyboard and can type 42 to 44 words a minute and he hopes to gain a speed of 50 words by the next fortnight.

His father, Mr Jitesh Sharma, says that on achieving that speed Saurabh will fill the agreement form which he has received from the Guinness Book of World Records for the Young Achiever's Award for fastest speed in typing.

Saurabh started fiddling with keyboard two years ago. Noticing his concentration, his father got him software called Typing Tutor. Saurabh sat on the computer and practised daily and gradually built up his speed.

Ms Bela Sharma, Saurabh's mother says,"The entire family is computer literate. Ever since my husband got a PC at home for his professional work, our interest in computer was aroused. I am computer literate and so is my younger son."

"Saurabh practises daily as now he has the zeal to set a world record. He has great tenacity and we encourage him all the
time. At times he gets bored, then he plays video games or watches cartoons, " she adds.

A student of Class 3, Saurabh is very good in studies too and gets more than 90 per cent marks.

Mr Jitesh
says," In order to improve his speed , I got him an American software in typing called TT6. It has lessons and is specifically designed for typing as it gradually gives more difficult words to type."

"In my correspondence with the Guinness Book of World Records, I found out that they only consider typing speed on this soft ware. I am waiting for Saurabh to attain speed of 50 words per minute and then I would fill in the agreement regarding record attempt in typing," he adds.

Talking to Ludhiana Tribune , Saurabh
said," I will definitely improve my speed in a few more days. I love computers and am learning Coral Draw . When I get bored of typing, I go out and play with my friends. I want to become a computer engineer when I grow up as I find computers very fascinating."

His father rues the fact that his son did not gain admission into a public school due to financial constraints. Lack of English Language, he feels, has slowed down his speed.

"Had he been in a public school, he would have done far better. This year I am going to get him admitted to a very good school. He is very intelligent and I sent him to learn Microsoft Word, Coral Draw and Accounting PackageTally to an institute. They were so impressed with his deftness in use of computers, that they imparted him lessons free of cost. "

Ludhiana, February 20
The special Begumpura Express, which started today from Jalandhar in connection with the 628th birthday
anniversary of Satguru Ravidass Maharaj
Ji, was given a rousing welcome on its arrival at the local railway station here this afternoon.

Thousands of devotees of Ravidass Maharaj, who had assembled at the railway station well in time, started shouting ' Ravidass Shakti Amar Hai and Satguru Ravidass Maharaj Di Jai' as soon as the special 22-bogey train cruised into the railway station at platform number 1.

The special train, which is being run under the leadership of Swami Niranjan Dass and Swami
Ramanand, would reach its destination — Varanasi — tomorrow in the evening.

About 2200 devotees, who are travelling by the special train, would take part in the birthday celebrations of their guru at Goverdhan Pura — birthplace of the guru — on February 24.

The train would start its return journey from Varanasi on February 25, according to a spokesman of Shri Guru Ravidass Bhawan Parbandhak Sabha.

Ludhiana, February 20
Film actress and former Miss India Rhea Pillai today said she had been impressed by the philosophy of the Art of Living. During her a decade long association with the foundation, she said she had seen total transformation.

Ms Pillai is in city to conduct an Art of Living workshop at the Satluj Club, which she claims, has drawn a good response.

Ms Pillai said the Art of Living founded by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar had a worldwide presence and following. Because she said it taught simple living in a better way. She said the foundation was also running educational institutions. Moreover, it had focussed on inculcating the moral values among the youth. She said now the foundation would focus on the overall development of the rural youth.

Ms Pillai is an instructor with the Art of Living. She said she had trained over 9000 people during her decade long association with the foundation. It was her first visit to Ludhiana and had found the people here quite warm. She said she would love to visit the Golden Temple and was waiting for the first opportunity to go there.

She also expressed in details about the Art of Living foundation. The United Nations (UN) has accredited the Art of Living as the biggest NGO with it and has been given a special consultative status attached to the Economics and Social Council. The foundation has been recognised for its path-breaking achievements in healing and human values by the World Health Organisation (WHO).

Ludhiana, February 20
Ms Santosh Choudhry, Chairperson of the National Commission for Safai Workers
(NCSW), today exhorted commercial banks to lend financial assistance on priority to economically weaker sections and members of the Schedules Castes and Tribes so that they could become self-reliant.

Presiding over a national conference of the All-India Central Bank SC,BC,OBC Employees Federation at the Nehru Sidhant Kendra here today, she said the procedure for granting loans to the poor should be simplified so that the beneficiaries, a majority of them illiterate, could be saved from harassment.

She said both Central and state governments had chalked out schemes for the welfare of the weaker sections and Dalits but these benefits could reach them only if the banks played their role effectively.

Ms Choudhry said directions were being issued by the government to the commercial banks to organise special camps in slums and jhuggis, besides rural areas, in this regard.

Paying tributes to Dr
B.R. Ambedkar, she emphasised the need to motivate Dalit families to educate their children.

The NCSW Chairperson regretted that only about 15 per cent of the safai workers in the local bodies were regular employees whereas the rest were employed on a contract basis.

While assuring that steps would be taken for the regularisation of the services of all safai workers, she said the issue of bringing the local body employees, including safai workers, under the purview of the Labour Act was being discussed and the government might bring a Bill for this purpose in Parliament soon.

Ludhiana, February 20
It was a joyous day for 15 poor couples who were married by the efforts of the Nishkam Sewa Ashram, an NGO, here today. The grooms, accompanied by relatives, had come from villages of Sangrur, Moga and Ludhiana districts.

The baratis danced merrily and were received by Mr Sarwan Kumar, Chairman of the ashram, relatives of the brides and others associated with the activities of the ashram.

The other prominent guests who had come to bless the couples included Lala Lajpat Rai, former MP, Mr Sam Rakhra from Canada and Ms Bimla Behan from the UK.

A satsang was held and parents of the brides were happy to see their daughters getting married in such a manner. Fourteen marriages were performed according to Sikh rites while one couple was married according to Hindu rites.

A lunch was served and many people provided household articles including beds, chairs, utensils and clothes to the couples. The brides were given gold earrings and the couples were given a wrist watch each.

Ludhiana, February 20
The Nepalese community living in Ludhiana today regretted the state of affairs back home. Addressing a congregation, the Nepalese people said, the common Nepalese was caught in the crossfire between the Maoist violence and the state repression and there did not appear any ray of hope.

Addressing the congregation here today, the central spokesman of the Nepalese Communist Party (Ekta Kendra), Mr Chin Bahadur, condemned the state of repression being resorted to the regime of the King Gyanendra. He said, despite offering full cooperation to the monarchy during the last 50 years, the Nepalese aristocracy has always oppressed the common masses.

He pointed out that it had become a habit with the royal family to install and destablise the “puppet governments” in Nepal at their own will. He said, recently also on February 1, the King did the same thing by “removing another puppet regime installed by him earlier”.

Mr Bahadur also condemned the violence resorted to by the activists of the Maoists in Nepal. He said, the terror unleashed by the Maoists in Nepal was being used as an alibi by the King to strangulate the freedom of people. He called for mass mobilisation of Nepalese people against both the regimes.

Ludhiana, February 20
Although India continues to be the fourth-largest economy in the world, it still lags behind China as far as growth rate is concerned.
Disclosing this here last evening, eminent economist Suman Bery said the Indian economy pegged at $ 3 trillion on purchase-parity parameter was at the fourth place with US, China and Japan occupying the first three places, respectively.

He said in 1980 India was at the fifth place in the world while China was at the ninth place.

But now China was at the second place advancing by seven places, while India was at fourth place having advanced by one place only.

Delivering a lecture hosted by the Ludhiana Management Association, Mr Bery said, China on the other hand had made remarkable progress over this period as it was the 9th largest economy much behind India in 1980 to have become second largest in 2002 overtaking India, which meant we had been growing but China had been growing at a faster pace.

According to him the growth was coming from services sector at the expense of agriculture sector which was true for any world economy but the cause of worry was that there is no growth in industrial sector.

This was due to the fact that investment level in industrial capacity creation and infrastructure was less than required. The Indian industry and the government would have to shed the inertia and start investing otherwise this growth rate would not be sustainable after a certain period.

Dr Bery said India was on the fast track of growth which was evident from marked increase in the availability and accelerated buying of consumer products by households all over the country.

Dr Bery is the Director General of National Council of Applied Economic Research and an authority on consumer patterns in India.

A doctorate from Princeton University he has had stints with the World Bank and Reserve Bank of India. He had been associated with the NCAER as Director-General from 2000 was much conversant with the growth pattern in spendings of Indian households.

He questioned the myth that the growth was a recent phenomenon and lauded the Indian economy for sustaining a growth of around 6 per cent from 1980 onwards the result of which was the increased consumer spending.

He predicted that this growth of 6 per cent would be maintained till at least 2010 and which in turn would further boost the consumer spending.

He answered many a queries on the pattern of consumer spending in the open question-answer session making it a wonderful experience for over 300 persons gathered.

Earlier while introducing the subject, Mr V.K. Goyal, who is himself an expert on the Indian economic affairs, also presented a positive picture of growth and economy.

Mr Mahesh Munjal, president of the association, appreciated the growth in consumer goods but cautioned the people in misdirected spending in a situation where cheap money and lure was there for fueling consumer spending.

Ludhiana, February 20
More than 300 drug manufacturing units, all of them in the small-scale sector in
Punjab, will be forced out of business if the Central Government does not withdraw the notification issued on January 7, for the levy of excise duty on the basis of maximum retail price (MRP) rather than the ex-factory price as was being done earlier.

The new structure of excise duty, apart from pushing up the prices of a large number of medicines, has put the drug industry in Punjab at a great disadvantage as compared to tax exempted states like Himachal Pradesh, Uttaranchal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir.

According to Mr Jagdeep Singh, president of the Punjab Drug Manufacturers Association (PDMA), the notification was neither revenue- generating, nor consumer-friendly. The new system of levying excise duty on 35 per cent of abatement on MRP had failed to achieve the desired purpose of the government to bring about a decrease in prices ranging between 0.5 per cent and 2 per cent, which was even otherwise insignificant. On the contrary, the prices had gone up and further, both the state and union governments would be suffering a loss of revenue as a result of forced shifting of drug units to tax-free states.

Terming the shift in the excise policy on drug manufacturers as illogical, unfair and violative of the basic right to equality, the PDMA president remarked that rather than inflicting gross discrimination upon units located in other states, the government should have taken steps to provide infrastructure to economically weaker and under-developed states instead of creating disparity and locational disadvantage between drug manufacturers in tax-free states and other states.

Mr Jagdeep Singh ridiculed the undue haste shown by the Union Finance Ministry in going ahead with the new excise system, which was bound to kill the small- scale sector of drug industry, particularly in the state of Punjab, which had geographical proximity to the exempted states of Himachal Pradesh and Jammu and Kashmir. The government would do well to realise the past experience that high tax rates had always resulted in evasion and creation of parallel economy, resulting in generation of black money.

In this context, he quoted a letter written by the Punjab Chief Minister,Capt Amarinder Singh, to the Union Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram, which called for removal of disparity in taxation on drug industry in Punjab and hill states in the neighbourhood. Pointing out that the notification had led to an increase in excise duty on drug manufacturers in the state to the tune of around 30 per cent, the Chief Minister had indicated that in the absence of appropriate response from the Centre, the state government could consider levying taxes on drugs being sent to Punjab from tax-free states.

The PDMA chief, who had earlier presided over a general body meeting of the association here, made a fervent plea to the state government and the members of Parliament to impress upon the union government that the said notification was not in the interest of the nation and needed to be withdrawn. In case the government persisted with its unfair stand, thousands of crores invested in small- scale drug manufacturing units could go down the drain, causing huge unemployment and price rise in the process.

Ludhiana, February 20
The Mega Brands Exhibition has attracted a record crowd during its two days.

The exhibition, which is organised by Sahara India, at Kumra Palace started on February 18 and will last till February 21 It covers most of the branded products of different industries.

The section on cooling and refrigeration is showcasing products like air conditioners, refrigerators, water coolers , deep freezers, dispensers and invertors. products like microwaves, rice cookers, OTG's, chimneys, hubs, gas burners, tandoors and TV's of different types attracted a lot of crowd.

The financial sector has everything for the people right from housing loans, personal loans, and auto loans. The visitors are being assisted in procuring loans .

The most amazing section is for the ladies where noted companies are all out with wide range of cosmetics and are doing massive free sampling.

The exhibition has everything for the people who want to plan their holidays. Malaysia and Malaysian airlines both are offering very attractive packages for the people.

Another section of the exhibition that attracted the students who are looking forward for a bright career was the education section.

Several universities like Pitsburg University, ICFAI University, ITS Gaziabad and Frenkfin Institute are offering various courses in different fields to the students.